Global Fishing Watch is the product of a technology partnership between SkyTruth, Oceana, and Google that is designed to show all of the trackable fishing activity in the ocean. This interactive web tool -- currently in prototype stage -- is being built to enable anyone to visualize the global fishing fleet in space and time. Global Fishing Watch will reveal the intensity of fishing effort around the world, one of the stressors contributing to the precipitous decline of our fisheries.

The system works by analyzing data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) network, which broadcasts a ship's location. Although AIS was primarily designed as a safety mechanism to avoid collisions at sea, information about the vessel's behavior can be derived by analyzing AIS data for the identity, speed and direction of broadcasting vessels. Global Fishing Watch uses that analysis to remove all the cargo ships and other non-fishing vessel activity. A lot of data is involved:

Global Fishing Watch started with 3.7 billion data points, more than a terabyte of data from two years of satellite collection, covering the movements of 111,374 vessels during 2012 and 2013. We ran a behavioral classification model that we developed across this data set to identify when and where fishing behavior occurred. The prototype visualization contains 300 million AIS data points covering over 25,000 unique vessels. For the initial fishing activity map, the data is limited to 35 million detections from 3,125 vessels that we were able to independently verify were fishing vessels. Global Fishing Watch then displays fishing effort in terms of the number of hours each vessel spent engaged in fishing behavior, and puts it all on a map that anyone with a web browser will be able to explore.

That openness is a crucial aspect of the project:

Global Fishing Watch will be available to the public, enabling anyone with an internet connection to monitor when and where commercial fishing is happening around the globe. Citizens can use the tool to see for themselves whether their fisheries are being effectively managed. Seafood suppliers can keep tabs on the boats they buy fish from. Media and the public can act as watchdogs to improve the sustainable management of global fisheries. Fisherman can show that they are obeying the law and doing their part. Researchers will have access to a multi-year record of all trackable fishing activity.

That's pretty much a win for everyone. Nations gain better control over their territorial waters and the resources they contain. It will be easier for food suppliers, journalists and the public to track which ships are fishing legally and sustainably. That will make it easier to identify and penalize those that aren't -- and reward those that do. Better control of illegal fishing should mean that quotas are adhered to, allowing fishing to stocks to recover. Detailed record-keeping will improve the science behind those quotas, making them more realistic and thus sustainable in the long term. In other words, Global Fishing Watch is an example of surveillance and big data analysis that even fish can love.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Biotech hasn't quite advanced as far as some science fiction stories might depict, but a few amazing genetically-modified organisms look like they're just around the corner, with scientists making biofuels or reviving dinosaurs in the near future. While we should be careful messing with Mother Nature, here are just a few developments to watch out for.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Autonomous robots are popping up everywhere. Some can fly, and some can drive. Others can swim across the ocean. Considering that there are still a lot of places in the oceans not yet explored, fish-like robots could gather amazing amounts of data and help us keep an eye on 70% of the Earth's (water-covered) surface. Here are just a few projects that are working on ocean-faring bots.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The term "drone" usually refers to a robotic plane, but some robot researchers are developing underwater drones for exploring the oceans and going to some hard-to-reach underwater destinations. A few of these robotic fish projects also mimic real fish locomotion and appearance, so that the robots blend into their environment. Maybe someday these fake fish will replace the real ones in aquariums, and no one will notice....

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Robots can come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but some of the more interesting designs mimic some animals in the ocean. Machines that can operate underwater have some obvious military applications, but studying biomimicry can also lead to discoveries in biology and deep sea ecosystems. Here are just a few projects looking at some varieties of sea-faring robots.

from the hoped-we-wouldn't-notice dept

At the end of last week, the Council of the European Union – which is where national ministers from each EU country meet to adopt laws and coordinate policies – had a meeting. A group of some 40 ministers for agriculture and fisheries signed off on a range of important matters, including:

Total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas for 2012
Fishing opportunities for 2012 in the Black Sea
Authorisation of four genetically modified varieties
Aid for processed citrus fruit
Welfare of animals during transport
Vaccination against bluetongue
Excess CO2 emissions from new cars
Temporary reception of certain Palestinians

Actually, there was another item, but from its penultimate position on the agenda it was clearly not really regarded as very important, and was just waved through. Here's how the official press release (pdf) reported it:

The Council adopted a decision authorising the signing of an anti-counterfeiting trade agreement (ACTA) with Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States.

ACTA is aimed at establishing an international framework to improve the enforcement of intellectual property right laws and create improved international standards for actions against large-scale infringements of intellectual property. Negotiations were concluded in November 2010.

So, continuing the tradition of denying European citizens any opportunity to offer their views on ACTA, the Council of national ministers employed the shabby trick of pushing the treaty through by adopting it without debate at a meeting whose main business had nothing to do with international trade.

Similarly, ACTA will now be passed to the European Parliament for a vote. Although there have been no indications that it will be thrown out there, the same was true of the software patents session, which was expected to approve the measure. One thing is for sure: there is going to be plenty of lobbying for and against ACTA between now and whenever that final vote takes place.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The modern food industry has developed a lot of techniques to help distribute food efficiently and safely, but sometimes there are a few "bad apples" out there that make it look like the entire food industry is filled with unsavory practices. Here are just a few examples of some food issues that might have hit your plate.

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Maybe animals are getting smarter. We've covered how some monkeys have figured out how to take pictures of themselves, and we're learning more interesting things about animal behavior all the time. Here are a few more interesting discoveries that could bring us some damn dirty apes.. and fish and bees and lizards.

from the don't-play-with-your-food dept

Well, here's an amusing one. Some folks in Japan have put together a game for mobile phones that lets you go fishing for virtual fish. That, alone, isn't particularly interesting of course. What makes it worth writing about is that when you catch a virtual fish, you then can get a real fish delivered to your door from a local fish wholesaler. There's a bit of luck involved, as once you've "caught" the fish, you then have to have numbers match up on a virtual slot machine, but it could get people thinking about more creative ways to make ordering any kind of product more fun. We've already seen various crazes for "virtual pets" come and go -- but why not attach them to real life outcomes? Need fish? Catch a fish. Need bread? Manage a virtual farm to successfully grow wheat. Want a dog? Successfully take care of a virtual one first. Obviously, some of these ideas are a bit silly, but you could see some more interesting ideas developed out of them, potentially offering people discounts on the actual products if they partake in some of these games that either have subscription fees or advertising.